1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of controlling display of point information when a stored map is partially zoomed.
2. Related Background Art
Up to now, there are known personal computers, portable information terminals, car navigation systems, etc. that can display a map of an arbitrary area on a screen of a display device based on map data stored in a server on a network in advance.
In order to provide a user with information that is more appropriate and further detailed, those apparatuses enable the user to zoom in or out to display a specific area on a displayed map at a predetermined magnification.
However, in the case of zoom display of the specific area on the currently-displayed map, only the map of the specific area that has been zoomed is displayed. Naturally, a map and point information of a vicinity area outside the specific area are no longer displayed.
That is, in the case where the map and the point information that were included in the vicinity area before a zoom process are to be viewed while the zoomed map is being displayed, it is necessary to restore at least a primary map. Thus, it is impossible to view the zoomed map of the specific area simultaneously while checking its positional relationship with map information of the vicinity area.
Known as a method for solving such a problem is a method of displaying a plurality of maps in different scales are simultaneously displayed on a screen such that a positional relationship can be grasped with respect to a vicinity area. However, the method that utilizes a divided screen has an inconvenience in that each area of the displayed map is small.